We sailed NCL's Majesty out of Charleston, SC on December 23, 2006, for a seven day cruise of the Western Caribbean. The ship's engine went out in the Atlantic Ocean. We were just sitting in the water. The mechanics tried to fix the problem. After an hour, they were able to re-start the engine. They were supposed to turn the engine off again to re-boot the four generators, but the engineers were afraid to turn off the engine for fear it would not start again.

NCL has known of the engine problems on the Majesty since September, 2006. It is common knowledge with the Port of Charleston personnel and the Charleston City Police that something goes wrong with the Majesty at least once per month.

NCL knew that the Majesty has serious engine/drive problems. They allowed passengers to be put in harms way by allowing the ship to sail on Decmeber 23, 2006. NCL was negligent and finally had to keep the Majesty in Charleston for one week so that they can put another band-aid on the engine problem again.

I have been on 17 cruises in 20 years. NCL is, by far, THE WORST cruise line in the industry.

The MAjesty is a beautiful and happy ship and NCL is a great company.
We will always experience breakdown on technical equipment from time to time, and regarding the problems on the Majesty it is wrong to claim that they had continous problems since september.

It's also wrong to judge a cruise line based on problems with one ship. You had 17 cruises over the last 20 years. Well - during my three years as a 1st officer with NCL I had hundreds of cruises, and, except for very few, I met only happy and enthusiastic guests.

Svein,
I can understand your loyalty to NCL, but I can not understand why you think the Majesty is a good ship. The staterooms are the smallest that I have ever seen. There are very few public rooms. There are not enough public rooms for the number of passengers. The Seven Seas Restaurant, Four Seasons Restaurant, Entertainment Theater (Iíve forgotten the name of it) all have very low ceilings. It is a crummy little ship.

This is only my opinion, but NCL is not a quality cruise line. It's the worst cruise line that I have ever taken.

You're right - she is not the largest, fanciest or most spectacular. She is small, intimate and cozy. The design (considering she was built in 92) is very modern. But if you are looking for big atriums or onboard iceskating - she is not your lady.

But most of all she is a HAPPY ship, and most people comment on this during the cruise.

Here's a little background on me. I've been on 17 cruises in 20 years. I love to cruise and I know the difference in mainstream, premium, and deluxe cruising. I always compare a cruise experience with ships in the same category. I have never complained one single time about any of my cruises. I always rate the employees with "exceeds" or "above average".

The Majesty is not cozy, it's cramped and tiny. The design (even for 1992) is not sleek, it's cheesy and cheaply built. That ship is crummy.

I've never been on another ship that had ceilings so low that the dancers couldn't even put their hands up when they were trying to do their dance routines.

I've never been on another ship that had a dining room (Four Seasons) that had one table after another in a giant row with no breaks, no alcoves, nothing to break up the feeling of being in a roadside dinner with low ceilings.

But, these are cosmetic comments. NCL has much larger issues to deal with. They have DOZENS of major safety violations documented on that cruise as well as having to deal with the negligent actions of the Captain and his staff.

The situation with the Majesty is not something that is common. It happens very rarely and I would like to see any other ship or cruise line handle it better. I have sympathy for those who got their vacations ruined, however I understand it was only the last day of the cruise.

Trust me - as a male officer in my mid 20'ies I attended a lot of dance shows, and they didn't have any trouble with putting their arms (or any body parts) up in the air

And - since you seem such an expert on ship design and safety: Can you mention exactly what kind of safety violations?